On Media

AP, NPR to cut back on 'Obamacare'

The Associated Press and NPR have decided to cut back on the use of the term "Obamacare" when discussing the new healthcare law.

Stuart Seidel, NPR's managing editor for standards and practices, announced the ruling earlier this week in a memo.

"'Obamacare' seems to be straddling somewhere between being a politically-charged term and an accepted part of the vernacular. And it seems to be on our air and in our copy a great deal," Seidel said.

Seidel asked NPR journalists to avoid overusing the term and to use "Affordable Care Act' or "the healthcare law" on first reference.

"[W]ord choices do leave an impression. Please avoid overusing 'Obamacare.' On first reference, it's best to refer to the 'Affordable Care Act' or 'the health care law.' On later references, feel free to use 'Obamacare' but mix it up with other ways to refer to the law," Seidel said.

AP's deputy managing editor and standards editor Tom Kent wrote a column on Tuesday noting the AP's preference is to use wording like “the nation’s new health insurance system,” “the health care overhaul” or “the new health care law.”

"'Obamacare' was coined by opponents of the law and is still used by them in a derogatory manner. It’s true that the White House, and even Obama himself, have used the term on occasion," Kent said. "But the administration hasn’t totally embraced “Obamacare' and still uses the Affordable Care Act much of the time. We’re sticking 'with our previous approach to 'Obamacare'. AP writers should use it in quotes, or in formulations like “the law, sometimes known as Obamacare, provides for …”

The Maynard Institute reached out to some other news organizations like NBC, PBS and The New York Times to see how they treat the term. Most either have no set guidelines or started using "Obamacare" when the administration did.